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As we gear up for the sixth edition of the Azerbaijan GP – here’s everything you need to know about the fastest lap records in Baku
Formula One action resumes in Baku after this short break following three enthralling races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia. The main race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 30 while the first Sprint event of the season will be held on April 29. The Baku City Circuit is historically one of the longest and fastest tracks in the F1 calendar, so all eyes will be on the lap timings as we can certainly expect a few records to be broken.
Charles Leclerc holds the record of driving the fastest lap after registering a timing of 1:43.009 at the 2019 edition of this Grand Prix. Despite performing consistently well in Azerbaijan GP, Leclerc has never been able to actually win an F1 race in Baku. The Azerbaijan GP hasn’t seen a repeat winner since its inaugural edition in 2017. In the previous edition, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished on top of the podium. Sergio Perez (2021), Valtteri Bottas (2019), Lewis Hamilton (2018) and Daniel Ricciardo (2017) are the winners of the earlier editions.
The Baku City Circuit has always been one of Charles Leclerc’s favourite tracks. Before setting the fastest F1 lap record in 2019, Leclerc registered a record timing of 1:53.635 in F2, 2017. Leclerc was driving a Dallara GP2/11 while setting this lap timing, which is till date an F2 record. Meanwhile, Antonio Giovinazzi holds the record of registering the fastest lap timing in GP2 – 1:54.792.
Leclerc will be aiming to turn things around at Baku – one of his favourite venues to drive. The Ferrari man’s start to the new season has been pretty underwhelming, registering two DNFs in three races so far. He began the season with a DNF in Bahrain but put up a decent display in the next race in Saudi Arabia to finish seventh and earn six points. However, Ferrari and Leclerc’s woes continued at the Australian Grand Prix, with the Monegasque registering another DNF in Melbourne. It remains to be seen if Baku acts as a good omen for Leclerc once again or if his season only gets worse.
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